HOUSTON, Texas, April 16, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Island Fabrication, Inc. ("Gulf Island" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: GIFI) announced today that it received an award for the construction of a third Regional Class Research Vessel for Oregon State University (“OSU”). This represents OSU’s execution of its third option for Gulf Island’s construction of three Regional Class Research Vessels.  All three vessels will be built in the Company’s shipyard in Houma, Louisiana.  Each vessel will be ABS Ice-Class CO and DPS-1, Green-Marine Certified, acoustically quiet, and carry up to 29 crew and embarked scientists. 

"I am pleased that OSU has exercised its third contract option, enabling Gulf Island to have an increased role in the success of OSU’s marine research program,” said Kirk Meche, Gulf Island's President and Chief Executive Officer. “We continue to move forward with the engineering and construction of the first two vessels, and this third option by OSU is a testament to the confidence of our customer in Gulf Island and our skilled craftsmen.”

“Understanding the ocean’s resources and their role in our future is a national imperative.  The Regional Class Research Vessels are a state of the art platform that will add critically needed capacity to understand nearshore oceanic process and living marine resources.  OSU is pleased to work with Gulf Island, and on behalf of the National Science Foundation, to build these revolutionary vessels for the Academic Research Fleet,” said Demian Bailey, OSU Regional Class Research Vessel Project Manager.   

About Gulf Island

Gulf Island is a leading fabricator of complex steel structures, modules and marine vessels used in energy extraction and production, petrochemical and industrial facilities, power generation, alternative energy and shipping and marine transportation operations. The Company also provides project management for EPC projects along with installation, hookup, commissioning and repair and maintenance services. In addition, the Company performs civil, drainage and other work for state and local governments. The Company operates and manages its business through four operating divisions: Fabrication, Shipyard, Services and EPC, with its corporate headquarters located in Houston, Texas and fabrication facilities located in Houma, Jennings and Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Company Information

Cautionary Statement

This Release contains forward-looking statements in which we discuss our potential future performance. Forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, are all statements other than statements of historical facts, such as projections or expectations relating to oil and gas prices, operating cash flows, capital expenditures, liquidity and tax rates. The words “anticipates,” “may,” “can,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “projects,” “targets,” “intends,” “likely,” “will,” “should,” “to be,” “potential” and any similar expressions are intended to identify those assertions as forward-looking statements.

We caution readers that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated, projected or assumed in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that can cause our actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements include the cyclical nature of the oil and gas industry, competition, consolidation of our customers, timing and award of new contracts, reliance on significant customers, financial ability and credit worthiness of our customers, nature of our contract terms, competitive pricing and cost overruns on our projects, adjustments to previously reported profits or losses under the percentage-of-completion method, weather conditions, changes in backlog estimates, suspension or termination of projects, ability to raise additional capital, ability to amend or obtain new debt financing or credit facilities on favorable terms, ability to remain in compliance with our covenants contained in our Credit Agreement, ability to generate sufficient cash flow, ability to sell certain assets, customer or subcontractor disputes, ability to resolve the dispute with a customer relating to the purported termination of contracts to build two MPSVs, operating dangers and limits on insurance coverage, barriers to entry into new lines of business, ability to employ skilled workers, loss of key personnel, performance of subcontractors and dependence on suppliers, changes in trade policies of the U.S. and other countries, compliance with regulatory and environmental laws, lack of navigability of canals and rivers, shutdowns of the U.S. government, systems and information technology interruption or failure and data security breaches, performance of partners in our joint ventures and other strategic alliances, progress of the SeaOne Project, and other factors described in Item 1A in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the Year Ended December 31, 2018, as updated by subsequent filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Investors are cautioned that many of the assumptions upon which our forward-looking statements are based are likely to change after the forward-looking statements are made, which we cannot control. Further, we may make changes to our business plans that could affect our results. We caution investors that we do not intend to update forward-looking statements more frequently than quarterly notwithstanding any changes in our assumptions, changes in business plans, actual experience or other changes, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.